BADGERS HAVE GREAT RECRUITING
CLASS TO 4-YEAR SCHOOLS
by Tyler Hughes

Snow Gets Four Consecutive Bowl Game Victories

The Snow College Badgers who enjoyed one of their finest seasons since the college began playing football in 1920 while finishing 11-1 with a #2 NJCAA National ranking and their fourth consecutive bowl game victory has found more reasons to celebrate.

National signing day for junior college players was December 20th and that day found many Badgers landing at top level programs in the NCAA. “Our players work very hard and we feel this is their final reward for their hard work while at Snow College. We are very proud to be a part of this day as it is a great day for these young men.”

NJCAA National Player of the Year, Cade Cooper, will not have to travel too far to throw his next pass. Cooper, who threw for over 3103 yards and 31 touchdowns, will be playing quarterback for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah this fall. Cooper weighed offers from Arizona, Utah, Utah State and Northern Arizona but ultimately felt like this was the best choice for him. Snow College has had numerous quarterbacks who were not only All-Americans but also excelled at the Division I level; however, no Badger signal caller in recent memory has had the opportunity to play at Brigham Young. With Cooper’s signing at BYU, he reached another landmark in his career as well as for all Badger quarterbacks.

Perhaps the most heavily recruited athlete at Snow College this past season was defensive tackle, Tonga “Junior” Tea from Anchorage, Alaska. Tea who came to Snow in 2004, redshirted his first season and has been a dominate force along the front for the past two seasons. In June of this past year Oklahoma State made Tea’s first formal scholarship offer while Washington State, Oregon, Utah State and Utah all followed in pursuit of Tea. Ultimately, Oklahoma State won the services of Tea as he committed the day Cowboy head coach, Cale Gundy, arrived in Ephraim shortly before signing day to help seal the deal.

Washington State who has been a top program in the west over many years and has recruited from Snow College in years past landed the Badgers top pass catcher in 2006 in tight end Devin Frischknecht. Frischknecht, who prepped at local Manti High, made the transition from wide receiver to tight end between his freshman and sophomore seasons became an All-American. He led the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns this season highlighted by his MVP performance of the Top of the Mountains Bowl in which he caught nine passes for over 100 yards and scored three times. Washington State figures Frischknecht will be the starter on day one of spring drills.

Sioeli Nau, a dominant interior defender for Snow College this season, will line up for the Oregon State Beavers in 2007. Nau, 6’3 315, will look fill immediate needs for the Beavers and will bring incredible size and strength to the trenches. Not to mention, great leadership and maturity. Nau was one of the Badgers hardest workers in the off-season and his work enabled him to land a scholarship at this Pac-10 school.

The Badgers offensive attack which prides itself in having a great ground game saw their top back, Matt Asiata, carry for 1494 yards. He will bring his tremendous skills to the University of Utah. Asiata, who was also being recruited by UNLV and the University of Flordia chose Utah as it will provide an opportunity for his family to watch him play. He has a very unique combination of size, strength and speed and the Badgers relied on him to be their top ball carrier over the past two seasons.

Thor Pili, a standout defensive lineman for the Badgers in 2006 will line up for the UNLV Rebels next fall. Pili transferred from Oregon shortly before the season will play alongside his brother Tolu who committed to the Rebels the year prior. Pili was a tremendous asset for Snow College and was a starter from day one at defensive end as well as participating on many of the Badgers special teams displaying his versatility.

A major factor in the Badger offensive attack was the strength of its offensive line. The left side of the line was powered by Wes Potter and Tyrell Curtis. Both players will play at Troy University next season and are expected to start. Troy won the first Division I conference title in school history this past season and as the program continues to develop Potter and Curtis are expected to provide major dividends. Potter is a 6’5 315 pound tackle from Bellevue, WA and Curtis is a 6’3 295 pound guard from Delta, UT.

Other Badgers who have committed to play at the four year level are linebacker, J.D. Folsom who has signed with Weber State. Folsom, an All-Conference selection, from Salmon, Idaho might have as big as upside of anybody from this past year’s team and is a major addition for the Wildcats. Chad Gochis, also a linebacker, has committed to Weber State as well. Sean Matagi, a defensive end has been offered by Weber State and Western Illinois but has yet to make a decision.

Alex Richards (WR – Mt, Pleasant, UT), and Aric Hutchinson (S – Ogden, UT) who were 2nd and 1st Team All-Conference respectively will play for Dixie State as well as Tai Murray (TE – Orem, UT) and Josh Crittenden (DE – Brigham City, UT) for next season. Matt Hadfield (WR – Lehi, UT) will play for Southern Virginia.

The following Badgers have chosen to walk-on at 4-year schools:

	Utah State:	Colt Mund (RB – Willard, UT)
	Brigham Young:	Curt Jensen (OL – Idaho Falls, ID) Jamison Fitt (LB – Orem, UT) Brock Richardson (DL – Idaho Falls, ID) Chris Muehlmann (American Fork, UT)
	Central Florida:	Luis Alvarez (CB – Lake Wells, FL)
	Southern Utah:	Ben Tonga (RB – Salt Lake City, UT) Eric Haukinima (RB – Salt Lake City, UT)